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dpa
Barcelona
Toni Kroos perhaps showed his age at Real Madrid's media day this week by saying the club would be doing what no team~has done before in winning three straight European Cups.
The achievements of Bayern Munich (in 1974, 1975 and 1976) and Ajax (in 1971, 1972 and 1973) will be matched by Real Madrid if they win the Champions League final against Liverpool in Kiev on Saturday.
Certainly in the modern Champions League era Kroos is right. Until last season no team had even won back to back European Cups. He~is also well aware that he and his teammates are~rewriting the club's own record books and now threaten to surpass the Real Madrid~great~of another era.
If they beat Liverpool in Kiev,~Kroos will move on to four winner's medals from the tournament and his team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo will be on five just one short of Paco Gento who holds the all-time record with six.
This generation of Madrid players are emulating club legends who dominated the European Cup from its inauguration, winning the first five trophies from 1956.
Just as Alfredo Di Stefano - who was the catalyst for that domination - is no longer considered the undisputed greatest player in the club's history because of Ronaldo's impact since 2009, so the current Madrid team have put themselves on a par with the team from the late fifties.
Kroos knows beating~Liverpool to complete that hat-trick of Champions Leagues will not be easy.
Opposing coach Juergen Klopp will make sure of that.~
The former Bayern Munich midfielder said on Tuesday:"Whenever we played against his team, it was difficult.
"And at Bayern Munich, we always had a lot of problems against Dortmund too. Always.~"I expect more of the same on Saturday. Klopp's~teams are always aggressive; they press you a lot - for 90 minutes. And they are highly motivated. He makes sure of that.
"They'll be 11 animals, all really up for it, we'll be better on the ball but they are going to put us under pressure for 90 minutes.
"We're expecting an aggressive Liverpool and a team with a really quick forward line, but we can stop them."
Kroos will not be the only player to move on to four Champions League wins if he comes out triumphant in Ukraine.
Luka Modric, Karim Benzema, Nacho, Marcelo and Sergio Ramos are all also currently on three."We have a team that has marked an entire era in football,"said Ramos this week."We should appreciate that.
"Sometimes it feels as if we are just gifted these Champions League appearances but it has been very difficult to reach this point once more."We have beaten the Champions of France, Germany and Italy. We have made the difficult look a little bit easier than it is."
Kroos added:"This generation of Real Madrid players are achieving something very special."It is very difficult to get to play one final. To play two is even more difficult and to play three is just crazy."
